Light-weight piston.



C. C. ANDERSON.

LIGHT WEIGHT PISTON.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9, 1911.

mwmmw Patented Oct. 29, 1918.

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CHARLES C. ANDERSON, OI CEDAR IDS, IOWA.

LIGHT-WEIGHT PISTON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 9, 1917. Serial No. 195,590.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES C. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Light-Weight Pistons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is in the nature of a light weight ray iron piston and cross head combined, or explosive engines and it has for its primary object to provide a combined device of the character described of improved design and make up, braced in every direction in the web, whereby, although much lighter than devices of similar character now in use, will withstand the heavy blows occasioned by the ex losions in the cylinder.

The exceeding y great advantages which attend the use of light weight pistons have long been appreciated but all such light weight pistons of which I have knowledge .-are made of material other than gray iron of which I make my invention, being exclusively madeof an aluminum mixtureor alloy of some kind, or of steel or some other lighter material. None of these, so far as I I have been able to learn, have given the service desired, and for theone great reason that the material. is lacking 1n the properties i which will withstand the extreme heat and at the same time does not qualities.

. In developing this invention my efforts have been directed toward making an engine piston which will stand the heat and strains with the piston now in use, .but with a greatly reduced weight. My present piston shows a reduction of 46% or 1% pounds which in the lifting processgoing on conpossess durable tinually. in the operation where four pistons in a motor make 1350 revolutions per minute, results in the saving of 8100 pounds per minute. V

The results of thisare relieving the wear on the bearings in'the crank-shaft;, counteracting the vibratory effect onthe" motor, reducin' the necessary amount of gas reuire ,and at the"sametime bringing into 1 t e construction a. material which has been I I tried out and found to be reliable beyond a doubt-Z --With the specified purposes in view, the in vention consists in the improved material, and the combination, arrangement and con- Patented cat. so, rare.

struction of the parts hereinafter fully described and afterward specifically claimed.

In order that the construction and opera tion thereof may be readily comprehended,

dicated bythe dotted line 2-2 in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3, an end view.

Like reference characters mark the same parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

Referring particularly to the drawing, 5 indicates the head of the piston froin which extends, at its circumference, the skirt 6 and in order to shorten the skirt and assist in dravn'ng, in.

reducing the weight of the piston, I make it only wide enough to provide for one cir-' cumferential groove 7 and I prefer to use, as the; only ring, a three-piece ring forwhich I have applied for Letters Patent.

From opposite sides of the skirt 6 extend bearing pieces or slides 8 curved on the same are as the skirt but each extending only substantlally one fifth of the circumference thereof, thereby further reducing the weight of the piston, and these slides are connected near their edges, by longitudinally flattened transverse webs 9, 9, which are formed with and support the sleeves 10, 10, which receive the pins of the cross-head, (not shown).

To further support the cross-head bearmg sleeves, webs 11, 11, extending from the webs 9, 9, in the same-plane therewith, connect the webs 9, 9, and the sleeves 10, 10, with the inner face of the head 1 .of the piston and with the inside of the skirt,while an additional web 12, at right angles to webs 11', 11, connects those webs together and their inner faces with the sleeve 10, 10 and with the inner face of the head 5.

Other webs 13, 13, in the same plane as the web 12, but on the opposite sides of the webs 9, connect'th e outer sides of the webs '9, 9, and the sleeves 10, 10, with the face of the head 5 and the inner face of the skirt 6.

All of the webs are of skeleton form and ing a head, a skirt of suflicientwidth to rewhile they rigidl and strongly connect the ,head, the skirt, and the cross-head bearing sleeves, and are integral therewith, they are ofvery light weight and serve to very largely decrease the weight of the piston while'giving it suflicient strength to resist all of the strains to which such pistons are subjected as Well as pistons now in use and of very much greater weight.

As before stated, my piston is made of gray iron, in a single integral skeleton structure, and by virtue of its well known strength and lightness, as well as of the peculiar construction described, it will operate equally as well as the very much heavier pistons, while saving very largely in power required, and also equally as well as the light weight pistons of aluminum mixtures or alloys,which do not possess the durability of my piston, are entirely lacking in expansive qualities, and will not stand'the heat in the cylinders.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A piston of gray iron consisting of a single, integral skeleton structure, comprising a head, a skirt of sufficient width to receive one ring only, bearing pieces for operating against the cylinder extending from opposite sides of the skirt, and sleeve bearings for the cross head pins supported from said bearing pieces.

2. A piston of gray iron consisting of a single, integral skeleton structure, compris ing a head, a skirt of sufficient width to receive one ring only, bearing pieces for operating against the cylinder extending fromopposite sides of the skirt, and sleeve bearings for the cross head pins supported from said bearing pieces, by means of skeleton webs extending from and connecting the opposite edges of the bearing pieces, the cross head sleeves being formed centrally of said webs and in line with each other.

3. A piston of gray iron consisting of a single, integral skeleton structure, compris ceive one ring only, bearing pieces for operating against the cylinder extending from opposite sides of the skirt, and sleeve bearings for the cross head pins supported from said bearing pieces, by means of skeleton webs extending from and connecting the opposite edges of thebearing pieces, the cross head sleeves being formed centrally of said webs and in line with each other, and addiopposite sides of the skirt, and sleeve bear-' ings for the cross head pins supported from said bearin pieces, by means of skeleton webs extending from and connecting the opposite edges of the bearing pieces, the cross head sleeves being formed centrally of said v .webs and in line with each other, and additional supports for the sleeve bearings comprising a skeleton web at right angles to and connecting the first named webs with the sleeves and with the inner face of the head, and two Webs in the plane ofthe last named web connecting the outer faces of the first named webs with the sleeve and with the inner faces of the head and skirt.

5. A skeleton structure of gray iron forming a piston comprising a head, a skirt, slide bearings for the cylinder, extending from the skirt, sleeve bearings for the cross head pins, and webs connectin the cylinder slide bearings, the cross head earing sleeves, the

inner surface of the head and the inner surface of the skirt. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the two subscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES C. ANDERSON. Witnesses:

. M. M. HOLDEN,

FRANK HUMBEBT.

presence of 

